Centennial College students in Vietnam cleaning a local beach during the Paint the Town Green celebration
Centennial College's service-oriented "Paint the Town Green" celebration, which was organized to boldly mark the College's 50th Anniversary last fall, has been announced as a Canadian Event Industry Awards finalist, making it a hallmark of achievement in the event/meeting industry. Centennial's anniversary commemoration is being judged against the best in the business, which this year includes Providence Healthcare Foundation, WestJet Airlines, Canadian Tire Corporation, McMaster University and Economical Insurance.
To mark Centennial's first half-century, the college cancelled classes on September 27, 2016, to release its students, faculty and staff to "Paint the Town Green." Thousands of volunteers fanned out across the city to lend a hand in 11 major City of Toronto parks with a variety of "green" initiatives such as planting trees, spreading mulch, removing trash from waterways and nature trails, painting fixtures and beautifying public areas.
With Centennial's growing international reputation, its partner schools in China, Korea, India, Turkey, Panama, Brazil and other countries released their students to make meaningful contributions in their own communities. In the spirit of the day, the president of Suzhou Centennial College near Shanghai, China, was thrilled to join his students and collect litter in the beautiful canal city of Suzhou.
At home and abroad, the Paint the Town Green initiative was Centennial's way of giving back to the communities that helped it grow into one of Canada's most innovative public colleges. With photos of volunteers working all over the world rapidly accumulating on social media, Centennial was nominated for the industry award in the category of "Best event produced for a corporation by an in-house team or planner."
The awards program was established in 1997 as a platform for event and meeting professionals from each major discipline of the industry to be recognized for their talent, hard work and success. Since its inception, more than 625 Canadian professionals, including producers, designers, chefs, entertainers, caterers, marketers and planners, have been celebrated for their achievements in events.
The Canadian Event Industry Awards is one the most rigorous and challenging award competitions in the world for event professionals. The category winners will be announced live at the Canadian Event Industry Awards Gala on March 30 at the Paramount Event Space in Toronto. All winning entries will be featured in an upcoming issue of Canadian Special Events Magazine.
